Her brain must be conflating things, she rationalized to herself. The Fourth King did save her mother all those years ago. Maybe that was why she was having weird dreams about him.
“Your lack of belief is not proof of something’s lack of existence,” Madam Meng said. “What is real and what is myth? You will often find the truth somewhere in between.”
Rui didn’t like Madam Meng’s all-knowing tone. Madam Meng’s gaze lowered once more to the red string.
“Why do you keep looking at it?”
“Because the thread is giving off a vibration. How did you obtain it?”
“Zizi gave it to me... I think.” Rui realized she wasn’t entirely sure. She’d woken up with it after he left her dorm room. The string looked similar to the one he always had around hiswrist, so she had assumed he’d cut off a section for her. She didn’t feel a magical vibration though, and as a trained Exorcist cadet, she was supposed to sense these things. It felt like a normal thread, but itwasunusual that she couldn’t remove it or cut it.
Madam Meng pursed her lips. “Was it the dreams that brought you here or something else?”
Rui wanted to pursue the mystery of the red thread, but she’d been tasked with something more important.
“I need to talk to Zizi,” she stated firmly.
Madam Meng didn’t seem surprised. “You wish to commune with the underworld?”
Rui nodded. “Ten forced him to create a talisman with underworld magic before he...” She trailed off, not wanting to say the words. “That talisman is in the hands of the Hybrid Revenants, and they’re using it to harm innocent people. I need to know how to find it and destroy it. I want to talk to Zizi—or Four, whatever the heck his name is—about the spell. Can you contact him?”
There was a long pause as Madam Meng stared at her in that uncanny manner again. Rui did her best not to squirm in her seat.
After an uncomfortable minute, the old lady spoke. “I could assist you in conjuring a vision of the boy, but it will only work if you have a true connection to him, for it is your soul that will be searching for his in the underworld. There is also a price.”
“I’ll do anything,” Rui said at once.
“I would not be so quick to decide. The price is an offering.”
“An offering? Like money? Ash has plenty of money. I’ll call him—”
“You misunderstand, child,” Madam Meng said, her voice deeply serious. “An offering is a sacrifice to the divine universe, and more specifically, it must be a sacrifice fromyou.”
The grandfather clock ticked in Rui’s ears. “What will be asked of me?”
“A memory.”
19
Zizi
According to mortals, time heals all wounds. Four knows they are wrong. His memories haunt him incessantly, and time only strengthens their torment.
Eventually, he is allowed brief visits to the mortal realm again. But his feelings toward humans have changed; he now knows how cruel they are, how dark their hearts can be.
Through the centuries, the village where he first met Lei Ying grows into a thriving metropolis. But more mortals mean more souls to attract the Blight, and the Reapers remain busy with their duties. The cultivators have split into two main sects with different principles: the Exorcist Guild and the underground magic practitioners. Regardless of which group they belong to, a magic wielder’s place in society balances on a tightrope, just like before.
One night, the First King finds him on the rooftop of a skyscraper, staring down at the bustling city streets.
“You wear your melancholy like a badge of honor. It has been so long—you must let go of things you cannot control. The truth, however painful, must be accepted.” One touches Four’s arm gently. “Come back to us.”
Anger beats in Four’s chest, and he swipes their hand away. “I am back with all of you, am I not? I am forever trapped in the underworld. Leave me be when I am here.”
“There was never any possibility of a happy ending between you and the mortal. It is forbidden. Fate has spoken. Whatever she might have felt for you, it does not carry the weight you bestow it. Whatever you think you feel for her, it cannot be real. It is not love. Do not delude yourself. You must forget her.”
Losing his composure,Fourthrows off his jacket and yanks up his sleeve. “You speak of things you do not understand. I will never forget her—Icannot.”
A spark flickers against the exposed skin of his arm, and his love thread surfaces.
